Farm Fresh Market Place in Salisbury, North Carolina - Must Check It

Farm Fresh Market Place - Salisbury, North Carolina

Added Note: One of my BBQ sauce friends provided a case of sauce to Jon Barber. Jon asked for a second and said to invoice. He did not pay up. Run him in Google and beware. 

 

Farm Fresh Marketplace has been on my "to visit" list since it opened. I just wasn't quite sure where it was located, and this has been a super busy few months. I want to buy better and fresher food, but when I'm exhausted, I just stop at the grocery store on the way home from work. I know. No excuses. But, life does have a way of getting in the way.

Farm Fresh really is not hard to find. You just get on South Main Street in Salisbury, NC and drive (toward Kannapolis) up close to Airport Road. You can, of course, GPS is at 3204 South Main St, Salisbury, NC (but I just got my GPS finally). For out-of-towners, then you get to Farm Fresh MarketPlace off I85 between Greensboro, NC and Charlotte, NC. It's a few miles off the highway, but it's worth the stop.

I was telling my younger son that I was going out there and explaining where I thought it was. He knew just where it was. This summer he had an internship, and he said he stopped at Farm Fresh to pick up lunch. He loves fruits, so he'd get a healthy and inexpensive lunch with local fruits. Why is the mother the last to know? Well, I never asked I guess.

My Son Loved Getting Fresh Fruit at the MarketPlace for Lunch Instead of Fatty Fast Food

I knew about Farm Fresh MarketPlace, because I'm FaceBook friends with Jon Barber who got this project started. We go a LONG way back. I kept the score for wrestling in high school, and he and his twin brother, Jim, were on the team.

Jon and Jim were older, athletes, and both quite stunningly cute (but fraternal - so each in his own unique way). This can be a recipe for being jerky (in just a few cases at my old high school). The main thing I remember is that both brothers were always super nice - to everyone. I've seen Jon a few times since graduation, and he always has been the same very nice and caring guy I remembered all these years.

I told Jon by Facebook PM about this wonderful North Carolina barbecue sauce from J. Paul Abrams with his Nephew's line of barbecue sauces. I bought a jar at Southern Seasons in Chapel Hill and was hooked. My son was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill and would pick it up for me, but he graduated. I was hoping Jon could carry the sauce, because Chapel Hill is a long drive, and shipping is expensive (but worth it for this sauce). Having it local - a dream come true.

Paul and Jon got to talking, and the next thing you know . . . yes . . . Nephew's barbecue sauce was at Farm Fresh Market Place. I love when things work out, and I encourage everyone to try out Nephew's if you get to Farm Fresh (which I really recommend). The Cherry Polte on slow smoked ribs is my favorite, but the rub and all the Nephew's BBQ sauces are top shelf. The pumpkin on pork loin is just fabulous too. Heck, all the Nephew's products are wonderful.

Yay! I Can Now Get Nephew's BBQ Rub and Sauce in Salisbury, NC

After Jon and Paul took the time to make this happen - my favorite sauce here local . . . you know I had to get myself out to Farm Fresh MarketPlace. Otherwise, I'm the one who looks like (and really is) a jerk.

I had no problem finding my way. I just don't go down South Main (old 29) often. It's an easy drive, and Farm Fresh was easy to find. I posted a photo at the top, so you will know just what you're looking for.

I thanked Jon for getting Nephew's barbecue sauce in. It really will be great to have it close my house. It's still about a half hour but way better than 2.5 to 3 (when I get lost in Chapel Hill for some reason even after four years).

Local Zip Lock Bags of NC Pecans at Fram Fresh

I looked at the local pecans at Farm Fresh. We still have a few left, but my Mom had to have the old trees cut this year. Our pecan supply is gone after these last are gone. I know where to get some now though. I'm going to miss our pecan trees and free pecans, but you don't want old trees falling over and crunching the house. 

This is not really garden season in North Carolina, so the main totally local (right here in town) produce was turnips. God bless everyone who loves turnips, but I've not developed a taste for them. The turnips were beautiful though.

 Local Grown Turnips - Not My Thing - But Very Pretty

I had my Nephew's cherry barbecue sauce, and Jon showed me his sample table which had Nephew's. I don't need to check Nephew's BBQ sauce, because I know and love it well. I did try some wonderful canned sweet potato butter. I've never had that, and it was really great. I am trying to watch my sweets though I'd loved to have bought a jar of that and eaten it with a spoon or on homemade biscuits. Jon also thought I might like the canned asparagus. OK. Yes. I love asparagus.

 

Ward Farms Pickled Asparagus - Boy That's Good Stuff

Next thing you know, I have the Ward Farm pickled asparagus up on the counter to buy. It's very early asparagus and super tender. There are hot peppers in there, so this is a HOT asparagus. Not like - kill you hot. But, you don't want this if you do not like a lot of zip. I do. I had to have a jar.

Keeping the selection small, local, and quality with some samples is right on target. I doubt I would have picked up pickled asparagus, because I don't like pickles. Then again, I'm not a cucumber fan. This pickled asparagus. Oh my goodness. My mouth is watering now thinking about it.

Yes. This Happy Chicken Lives at Farm Fresh.

I got my bag and headed out and said good-bye to the chicken out front. There will be an Eagle Scout garden going in beside the chicken soon. That will be cool, and a good way for people to see where their food comes from. Also, both my boys are Eagle Scouts. I'm glad Jon supports local kids on projects like this. It takes a lot of work to reach Eagle Scout, and they must have a big final project in the community. I can't wait to see this one.

I know this is a long blog post, but it is a complex story as are many in life. My Mom was our Brownie leader and always told use about friends: "Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." I've know Jon most of my life, and I'm glad he has started Farm Fresh MarketPlace to feature local and North Carolina products. Paul is up near Raleigh, and I met him by way of his Nephew's Barbecue sauce and became FaceBook friends (so we're new buddies - and I've not met him in person yet). This all came together online, so . . .

1. If you're in Salisbury, NC, be sure to check out Farm Fresh MarketPlace, and if you're on I85, take the extra time to stop by a real locally owned and focused place to get real food.

2. If you're at FarmFresh or see Nephew's barbecue rubs or sauces, try them out. You know they are great, or I would not have lobbied to get them right here in town. If you can't find Nephew's near you, then the shipping price is worth it. I was in a crunch and ordered online for Christmas gifts, because this sauce is just that GREAT.

Nephew's Peachy Potle' Barbecue Sauce

Tonight I broke out the Nephew's Peachy Potle' barbecue sauce. I'd been saving it back for a special evening, and since some of the guys were in for the holidays, it seemed a good night to test out this sauce from Garner, North Carolina.

Since I had some nice boneless pork chops, I went ahead and sauced them and let them rest for about a half hour while I started up the charcoal. With a sauce with a sugar base like this one, I would not sauce ahead with a larger cut of meat that takes longer to grill. These little cuts of pork grill up fast, so it works out perfect to sauce them ahead.

I had the charcoals good and hot and let the grate heat well, since it was very chilly outside. You want the grates hot regardless, since meat is likely to stick to cold grates and then your barbecue sauce doesn't stay on.

The Nephew's peach barbecue sauce set up nicely in 3 or 4 minutes. Then I flipped the chops and did the other side. All told it took about 10 minutes to grill these done but not dried out. The biggest mistake with the little pork chops that I see is grilling them too long. The USDA recommends 145 degrees F on grilled pork now. Remember though that pork continues to cook a bit after being pulled off.

Our grilled pork chops looked and smelled great, and the flavor was terrific. The peach flavor is natural with a nice sweet taste and just a little kick of heat. The balance is there. This sauce enhances the meat without overpowering it. It's a shame to grill a perfect pork chop and then not even be able to taste it. With Nephew's the sauce simply takes the flavor up several notches.

I'm glad I saved back the peachy potle' for an evening with the guys home. I was pretty certain it would be a hit, since the cherry potle and ghostly pumpkin by Newphew's had both been winners. The cherry barbecue sauce by Nephew's is our all time favorite on country ribs in the smoker. I think the peach would be really good too, so that's the next thing I want to do with the peach barbecue sauce.

Nephew's is a rather new sauce and growing. They were in the Raleigh/Chapel Hill area close to Garner, but I think they are available in Charlotte as well. If you're not close by, you can buy Nephew's barbecue sauce online, and it's well worth it. I ordered in the Cherry Potle' to give for Valentine's Day gifts. It's a beautiful red sauce, so it went well with the heart theme.

Here's a picture of the Nephew's barbecue sauce jar. I know it helps to know what you're looking for. The red headed guy in the blue cap is on all the labels.

Grilled Country BBQ Ribs with Nephew's Cherry'Potle Sauce

Tonight I decided to grill some country ribs and Greek grilled potatoes. I lived in Greece for a couple of years, and it was fun coming up with the Greek variation of potatoes for the grill. Be sure to check them out. They are really tasty.

If you're not familiar with country ribs, they may be called something else in your area. Basically, they are the rough cut in and around the rib area that might be thought of as leftovers in the meat industry. While country ribs may not always be beautiful, since some have bones and others do not, they are meaty and can make an inexpensive grilled meal.

As far as grilling the country rib odd cuts, I do them more like pork chops than ribs, since they really are not ribs. Generally, I offset charcoal and let country ribs smoke low and slow, so they are tender and gets lots of flavor. Instead of taking a couple or more hours, they run around 45 minutes to an hour on smoking. That's why I'd consider them more in the pork chop range as far as grilling.



Here are the grilled country ribs from tonight. Two had bones, and one cut was solid meat. So, they are a little different. Still, the meat for tonight came in at $2.50, and you can't beat that with a stick. Plus, we really get more meat all in all than with racks of ribs.



In addition to slow smoking the country ribs, I like to try different barbecue sauces on them. Tonight, we had Nephew's Cherry'Potle (cherry chipolte). Nephew's has a great range of sauces and with fruit flavors. They don't overdo the fruit taste, so you get some sweet and some heat.

Dylan sent me a selection of his gourmet sauces. He's out of Raleigh, NC where I attended NCSU. I was really hoping his sauces would be good, but they have turned out even better than I hoped for. Tonight, the boys' dad who dropped over and sampled the ribs said:

"Yum. These are the best country ribs you've made so far."

I must confess that I was thinking the same, but it was nice to get a confirmation on that. I did the BBQ random ribs the same as always, so it was the cherry barbecue sauce that pushed them over the top to make the grilled country ribs super yummy. You can, of course, sauce your ribs up with any sauce you like, but an exceptional barbecue sauce can make a huge difference.

Regular readers may remember that I tried Nephew's Pumpkin Barbecue Sauce on a pork loin, and that smoked grilled dish turned out great as well. That was back around October or so, but the pumpkin is excellent even when it's not the holiday season.

I think the Nephew's barbecue sauce line will be offered in Raleigh at Whole Foods and around the area soon, but you can always order online. The sauces really are impressive, and our low cost dinner tasted like a million bucks tonight. Can't beat that!